Cases, Projects & Resources

Practice Advisories

The Clinic has authored practice advisories on the immigration consequences of certain Florida crimes, including burglary and drug offenses.

Detainee Conditions

Students conduct "Know Your Rights" presentations for detainees and monitor conditions in Florida jails that hold immigrants for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). After visits to Glades County Detention Center in Moorehaven, Florida, students wrote letters of concern to jail and ICE officials. (See UM Law Immigration Clinic Letter of Concern to Jail and ICE Officials: November 1, 2013, October 8, 2012, October 7, 2011.

Resources for Detainees in Immigration Proceedings

The Immigration Clinic has created self-help flyers and other resources for detainees in Immigration proceedings to use when applying for legal relief. These resources are meant to guide detainees through the difficulties of immigration law, but do not constitute legal advice.

Temporary Protected Status (TPS) Eligibility

The Clinic sought guidance from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) about whether certain criminal dispositions constitute misdemeanors within the meaning of the Temporary Protect Status statute and regulation (see letter requesting guidance). In response to the Clinic's request, USCIS issued guidance stating that a conviction in which criminal court had certified that the defendant would receive no jail time falls outside the definition of a misdemeanor for TPS eligibility.

The Clinic had requested guidance because Florida courts routinely certify in minor cases that the defendant will not receive any jail time, thus taking away indigent defendants' right to an attorney at government expense. Because the TPS regulation specifies that a misdemeanor is a crime "punishable by imprisonment for a term of one year or less," convictions obtained after a "no jail" or "no incarceration" certification fall outside the TPS definition of misdemeanor.

The Clinic challenges unlawful government actions against immigrants by litigating motions to suppress evidence and terminate immigration court proceedings and civil damage actions. The suppression case, Jimenez v. U.S. Attorney General, is scheduled for oral argument before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. The Jimenez case challenges the actions of local police who exceeded the scope of their arrest authority by enforcing civil immigration law, in violation of the U.S. Supreme Court's decision Arizona v. United States. Read the Clinic's opening brief to the Eleventh Circuit, the government's response, the Clinic's reply, and the amicus brief filed by American Immigration Council.

The Clinic recently resolved a federal damages lawsuit filed on behalf of an immigrant who was attacked by a detention officer at Krome Service Processing Center. To read about this case, click here. In January 2013, the Clinic co-sponsored a training on Immigration Damages Litigation.

Rebecca Sharpless is Professor of Clinical Legal Education and Director of the Immigration Clinic

Romy Lerner is Practitioner-in-Residence and Supervising Attorney of the Immigration Clinic

STOPPING DEPORTATIONS TO HAITI

The Immigration Clinic and the Human Rights Clinic began a collaborative effort to halt deportations to Haiti in view of the ongoing effects of the January 2010 earthquake, the cholera epidemic, and political unrest. Read more about this project.